76ers-Nets Preview

By TAYLOR BECHTOLDPosted Apr 08 2013 6:01PM

Deron Williams is playing with a sense of urgency as he and the Brooklyn Nets seek homecourt advantage in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The Philadelphia 76ers, meanwhile, are simply playing out the string after being eliminated from postseason contention.

Williams and the Nets will try to take another step toward clinching fourth place on Tuesday night when they host the 76ers.

After a disappointing home loss to Chicago - the team directly trailing them in the East race - the Nets (44-32) bounced back with a key 105-96 victory over Charlotte on Saturday to move two games ahead of the Bulls, who lost at Detroit on Sunday, for the fourth seed.

The Nets, 23-15 at home, are hoping to build momentum heading into the postseason after dropping five of their last eight at the Barclays Center.

Williams has put together back-to-back outstanding performances there, finishing with 32 points on Saturday and making all six of his free-throw attempts in the final 1:16 to preserve the victory. He's totaled 62 points while shooting 20 for 34 from the floor and 18 for 21 from the foul line in his last two home games.

"This league is so full of big-time point guards. When you have one of, if not the best, it makes a huge difference," Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo said.

Williams has a chance to post three straight 30-point games for the first time since Dec. 10-13, 2010. He has averaged 21.7 points on 53.7 percent shooting in this season series, including 27 points and 13 assists in Brooklyn's only loss, 106-97 in Philadelphia on March 11.

The Nets took the first two meetings, 95-92 in Brooklyn on Dec. 23 and 109-89 in Philadelphia on Jan. 8.

The 76ers (31-45) had been playing well defensively, limiting opponents to 89.8 points per game and a 25.9 3-point percentage while winning four of five to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

Philadelphia, however, allowed Miami to make 14 of 25 from beyond the arc in a 106-87 loss on Saturday. It was officially eliminated from the postseason that night when Milwaukee clinched the final spot with a win.

"I'm incredibly proud at how hard they've played every single night," coach Doug Collins said. "We've competed and we've had some really tough losses but we can only grow from that."

Jrue Holiday - Philadelphia's leading scorer at 18.1 per game - has averaged 11.5 on 25.0 percent shooting (18 for 72) in his last four games and that was after scoring 18 on 7-of-17 shooting in Saturday's loss. He's averaged a team-best 19.3 points and hit all seven of his 3-point attempts in this series.

Evan Turner is also playing well, scoring 19.4 per game while shooting 53.5 percent from the floor in his last five.

The 76ers have made 23 of 50 (46.0 percent) from 3-point range versus the Nets, who have limited their opponents to 15 of 46 shooting (32.6) from beyond the arc in their last three overall.

Nets guard Joe Johnson had 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting in his second game back from a heel injury. He's averaged 19.0 points and hit 8 of 15 from 3-point range in this season series.

Brooklyn snapped a six-game home losing streak to the 76ers with its December win. The Nets haven't won this season series since sweeping four games in 2008-09.

Copyright 2013 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Lopez, Evans lead Nets past 76ers, 104-83

By ADRIANO TORRESPosted Apr 10 2013 12:36AM

NEW YORK (AP) The Brooklyn Nets are used to getting a strong first-quarter from All-Star center Brook Lopez. On Tuesday night, they also got a big opening-period performance from Reggie Evans.

Evans scored 10 of his 17 points and Lopez chipped in 15 of his 29 in the first quarter to help lead the Nets to a 104-83 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers, strengthening Brooklyn's hold on fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

"You just go out there and do what you need to do to win. It's all about heart," said Evans, who already had a double-double with 10 rebounds by the end of the first quarter.

"It isn't all about the way you look, how tall you are, how physical you look. It's all about that heart. I'd rather play a physical game than a pretty game. The more physical, the better it is. I like contact. I don't like running away."

By the time the Nets were done packing for their second game of a late-season back-to back set at Boston tomorrow night, Chicago was on its way to its second straight loss - 109-98 to Toronto - to fall three games behind Brooklyn.

Deron Williams and Joe Johnson had 11 points apiece for the Nets.

Williams knows Evans' toughness and playoff experience would come in handy against a team like the Bulls that have a strong frontline.

"It's great when he comes out like a man possessed," Williams said of Evans' performance that set tone for the Nets. "It's been a lot of game this year where he's just got us going and we just fed off his energy. When he's playing like that, especially offensively, we're tough to beat. . He's playing at an extreme high level and hopefully he can continue to do it."

Reserve guard MarShon Brooks had 11 points and seven assists for the Nets, winners of two straight overall and three of four in the season series against the 76ers.

The Nets outrebounded Philadelphia 67-34 - including 24 offensive boards - and had 25 second-chance points. The 76ers scored just six second-chance points.

"Brook draws a lot of attention when he has the ball and that gives Reggie the green light to do what he does best," 76ers center Spencer Hawes said. "Reggie can rebound and put the ball back up for easy points. They both really beat us bad tonight."

Nick Young had 18 points and Jrue Holiday scored 15 for the 76ers, who have lost two straight.

"They started out and you could see what their game plan was, just to pound it in the paint. It was no disguise tonight. It was just, `We're going in the paint,"' 76ers coach Doug Collins said.

Aside from the big night Evans and Lopez had, Brooklyn interim coach P.J. Carlesimo thought the Nets were able to shake off their bad habit of wasting big leads.

The Nets have been hampered by falling apart in the third and fourth quarters. On Tuesday night it seemed like the second quarter was going to be their undoing. A 13-point lead was cut down to just five after Young's fadeway jumper made it 38-33 with 7:46 remaining in the second quarter. However, the Nets closed out the first half on 18-5 run to take a 56-38 lead at the break.

Brooklyn led by as many as 27 points in the third quarter and shot 12 for 22 from the field, enjoying a 82-65 lead that allowed Carlesimo to rest his starters in the final quarter.

The Nets, whose biggest lead was 28, blocked seven shots and limited the 76ers to 38-percent shooting (30 for 80).

"Our entire team was aggressive on the boards tonight," said Lopez, had 11 rebounds and three blocks. "We were able to get the stops we needed, we helped each other out and limited them to one shot.

NOTES: Every player on the Nets active roster scored except for Kris Joseph. ... After recording four double-doubles in his first 69 games, Evans has four in his last seven. ... Williams' lone 3-point basket tied him with Kerry Kittles for the franchise record with 158. ... The last NBA player to have a double-double by the end of the first quarter was the Lakers' Dwight Howard against Miami on Feb. 8.

Copyright 2013 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Notebook: Nets 104, Sixers 83

THE FACTS: Behind excellent production from Brook Lopez (29 points, 11 rebounds) and Reggie Evans (17 points, 24 rebounds), the Nets blew out the 76ers 104-83 at Barclays Center. The Nets dominated the Sixers in the paint and improved to 29-4 against teams with sub.-.500 winning percentage at the time of the game. The Sixers shot 37.5 percent from the field and were led by Nick Young, who scored all 18 of his points in the second half, which the Sixers entered down 18.

THE STAT: The Nets pounded the Sixers on the offensive glass, finishing with a 24-8 advantage. As a result, the Nets had 25 second chance points to just 6 for the Sixers.

TURNING POINT: After missing a layup, Lopez missed a tip-in, grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He split a pair of free throws to give the Nets a 23-17 lead and then scored four of the next six points on as the Nets took full control of the game with a 7-0 run.

QUOTEABLE II: "Brook draws a lot of attention when he has the ball and that gives Reggie the green light to do what he does best. Reggie can rebound and put the ball back up for easy points. They both beat us really bad tonight."-- Sixers center Spencer Hawes

INSIDE THE ARENA: For the one hundredth anniversary of the first game played at Ebbets Field, the Nets' honored the Brooklyn Dodgers' 1955 championship team by displaying the official pennant, on loan from the Brooklyn Museum.

ROOKIE WATCH: Arnett Moultrie and Justin Holiday both scored four points and grabbed four rebounds for the Sixers. ... Kris Joseph made his Barclays Center debut for the Nets midway through the fourth quarter with the game in hand. He played over five minutes alongside fellow rookies Tyshawn Taylor and Mirza Teletovic.

NOTABLE: With his 158th 3-pointer, Deron Williams tied Kerry Kittles for the Nets' single-season franchise record. ... Evans had a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) in the first quarter and the crowd chanted "Reg-gie!" in his honor.